Chill Beers at Freshwater Brewing. Brookvale's sixth brewery opens.

Freshwater Brewing opened its doors earlier this month, the eighth on the Northern Beaches and the sixth brewery in Brookvale itself, marking the area as a destination for brewery-hopping lovers.

Founded by a group of industry mates, Head Brewer Brett Phillips, Tom Bruce, Jonny Bucknall, Chloe Morgan-Webster, and Marv Slocombe, Freshie Brewing is a community brewery that reflects the local, laid-back beach vibe. There’s a focus on lagers and crisp, easy-drinking beers. Life is uncomplicated in Freshwater, and the beers reflect that. The founders will tell you, ‘They’re not craft. They’re chill.’

A horseshoe-shaped bar is framed by a 120-capacity open-plan ground floor space and a ten hectolitre, three-vessel brewing set up. Food is a focus for the venue, with a state-of-the-art in-house kitchen offering a full restaurant menu. All dishes are curated by Michelin trained Executive Chef Daniel Wilson (ex-Dandy, London) using seasonal and locally sourced ingredients. The style of food is ‘relaxed backyard meets beachside bliss’. The menu is paired beautifully with the pouring and a wide selection of independent wineries and cideries.

Expect a bit of Aussie nostalgia with a menu including BBQ prawn skewers, Swallow rock pork sausage rolls with cumin, harissa, and fennel mayo, a seafood platter and Sydney rock oysters with a finger lime vinaigrette or an epic fish finger sandwich.

The space is bright, approachable, and inviting, not centered on traditional craft beer crowds, Freshie hopes to bring a bit of the laid-back beachy lifestyle to the industrial Brookie neighbourhood. There’s a comfort to the facilities that will be a welcome change to the normal ‘bloke’ focused environment.

It goes without saying that dogs and children are welcome, it’s a brewery after all.

Co-founder Jonny Bucknall says of the new opening, “we are stoked to be opening our first brewery a year after the launch of our first beer and in our local neighbourhood. Community is in the brand’s DNA, and this gives us an opportunity to create a space for our friends, family and neighbours, and create a brewery for all that embodies the Australian surf lifestyle.”

Full opening hours are: